Sunday, September 11, 2011

My friends, if there is to be peace, there must be forgivemness. And as we sometimes sing, "Let peace begin with me," so let us pray for forgiveness to befin with each of us and ask God's blessing on those we find difficult to forgive.
For the enemies of our nation...we pray;
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For those whose politics are different from ours...we pray,
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For those whose religion is different from ours...we pray,
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For other Christians with whom we disagree...we pray,
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For people with whom we work who make life difficult...we pray,
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For friends who have disappointed us...we pray,
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For family members who are making life a struggle...we pray,
Lord Hear Our Prayer
We remember those who have died...
Lord Hear Our Prayer
For those died with whom we did not have an opportunity to have a last word, final embrace. And today we especially remember all those who die as victims of war, terrorism or other acts of violence...we pray,
Lord Hear Our Prayer
Good and gracious God, hear us and help our prayers be sincere by conforming our hearts to what we know to be right, to what we know to be the call and command of your Son, Jesus, our Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Friday, August 26, 2011

This has really been a wild past few weeks. Casey and I took a quick, weekend trip to Destin a week or so ago. We took the 3 puppies to the kennel, and Mom took care of the rest at home. There was a bad incident, while we were gone. One morning, Mom let Shiloh out to potty. She was right on the side of the street and the yard. A car came flying up the street and hit her on the side of the road!! They didn't even stop!! So, we had to let our sweet, sweet Shiloh cross the Rainbow Bridge. We loved and miss her very much!!
RIP Sweet Shiloh

Despite the bad news, as soon as we got to Destin, we tried to have a good time anyway. Here's some shots from the trip.
Public beaches at Destin.

Beach at Henderson State Park.

Casey napping on the beach.

Me attempting to go Boogie Boarding!

On Saturday night, we had dinner at McGuire's Irish Pub. It was absolutely delicious! We had the 18 cent Senate Bean soup and the Shepherd's pie. We also had their yummy, home brewed Raspberry Wheat beer. The entertainment was hysterical, and everyone was signing old, Irish drinking songs. I really can't wait to go back there!http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Enjoying the brew at McGuire's.

It was a very short vacation, and we were soon back home and back to work. The following Saturday, I had my annual Fenton Payne & Fred 5K race. All summer I've been swimming and doing circuit training, but I really haven't been doing any distance running. I ended up being faster than last year!! I really have improved my endurance the past year! This is always my very favorite 5K, and I had a great time! I again ran for Special Kids as a part of Team A.S.K. My child partner was Olivia, and she was such a sweetheart. Olivia suffers from a rare lung disease called NEHI.
Here's me and Olivia.

Race shots.
Just crossed the finish.

School starts tomorrow, and I'm back in school. So, I'm definitely going to have a busy fall with Celebration Pet Day, School, and swimming on the master's team again this year!

Friday, June 10, 2011

I went to my dryland training for the 2nd time last night. I really liked last night's sets. We were in the weight room. We had 2 stations for ab work; one stop on the bench with the medicine ball, and one stop with the giant exercise ball. Then we did the lat pull down machine, the thigh press, the arm press, and the arm/fly press. We did 4 sets. In between each set, we went out to the track and ran laps. I really do like circuit training! I ended up running nearly a mile, just in class last night. Since we really concentrated on our upper body, I'm not nearly as sore today. It's amazing how swimming has strengthened my arms and shoulders! I'm looking forward to next week's sessions too!
I had spent the earlier part of the week concentrating on recovery swims, since I was SO incredibly sore from the first session. I spent the better part of the week in pain. So today, I finally got my first "real" swim in of the week. Here's what I did:
Warm Up:
200 Swim
100 IM Kick
200 Pull
Main Set:
100 Swim
100 IM
200 Swim
200 IM
150 Swim
3 x 100 IM
4 x 50 Kick FAST
4 x 25 Underwaters
Cool Down:
250
Total: 2100
Not a massively big workout, but it's definitely a start!

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Yesterday, I started an intensive summer dryland program. I seriously need more core strength. I wanna use the core strength for better, faster flipturns. Anyway, my local Rec Center has a "Boot Camp" class that is run by a personal trainer. It's a very small class and is held three times a week.
I got to class last night, not knowing quite what to expect. Last night's class was A LOT of circuit training. We'd got through a set targeted to a specific body part, then head out to the track for some running. Then back to the cardio room for more sets. It was a great all over body workout. We did a lot of squats and lunges off of the steps last night too. Both good for explosiveness off the wall! There was LOTS of core work too! If I sit for any period of time today, it takes me a while to get up and get going! I'm used to running and swimming, but this class was truly a challenge for me. I never thought I would use running to catch my breath!
I'm so sore today that today's lunchtime swim was a recovery workout. Swim, kick, pull for 3 sets, all done slow and easy. I'm going back tonight for another thousand, just to keep from getting so stiff. I have my online class tonight, so I'll be sitting in my work chair for a long time today. Probably around 13 hours, so I need that second swim!
I have another dryland class coming up on Thursday. I'm just praying to keep up and not die!!

Friday, June 03, 2011

I know, I know, it's been a really long time. Quick update: I'm still trying to learn a good butterfly stroke. I'm definitely getting faster. I survived Coach Katie's spring training, and now we're onto summer practices with Coach Erica. The outdoor pool is open for the season, and I'm one happy swimmer. I just REALLY enjoy swimming outside. Give me the sun anyday! I did have one bump in the way. I was sick for nearly 3 weeks in early May with pleurisy. Talk about wiping you out! I still haven't gotten all my endurance back, but I'm working on it. The puppies are all happy and healthy, and their blog is growing by leaps and bounds. They get more mail than Casey and I do!!
I had a GREAT opportunity come my way in May. The club paid for me to go to USMS SwimFest 11. It was held this year in Jonesboro, GA. Not a bad drive from home, at all. Anyway, this is the first USMS clinic that I've ever been to, and I was unsure of what to expect. Well, it was everything I had hoped and more.
The early morning was spent in classroom sessions. We had the "History of Swimming" with Coach Bobby Patten. Then we went to "There's a Drill for That", where we broke down stroke flaws and identified drills to correct the problem with Coach Cokie Lepenski. The next session was all about dryland work. It was held by a physical therapist named Alan Tyson. Dr. Tyson has worked with Cullen Jones and Mark Gangloff. He focuses on making you more flexible to achieve better form in the water, which in turn makes you faster, without needing more strength. Just the few little tweaks and tricks that he demonstrated made a huge difference. He is certifying folks in this method. For more info, go to www.axisswimming.com
About mid morning we started our pool portion of the day. First we went to video taping. We were allowed to tape 3 strokes (they all could be the same, if there was something we really wanted to work on). Upon exiting the pool, we sat down with one of the top coaches to have our strokes analyzed and forms filled out with suggestions. I really lucked up. I was analyzed by Cokie Lepenski. She holds the titles of Kerry O'Brien Coaching Award and the 2011 Pacific Masters Coach of the Year Award. I chose to do a freestyle stroke and two backstroke. This was the first time that I've been taped, and I was pleasantly suprised that they didn't have much for me to improve on either stroke. In fact, I received a fabulous compliment from Cokie. She told me that I have one of the prettiest backstrokes that she's ever seen. Talk about feeling over the moon for the rest of the day!! I just wish we could have gotten copies of our videos.
After the videotaping, we moved onto FINIS equipment testing. We got to test out some of their very best products. It was SOOO much fun! I love swim equipment! On the day's list was the: Tempo Trainer, Forearm Fulcrums, Foil Monofins, Z2 Gold Zoomers, Bolster Paddles, the Tech Toc, Alignment Kickboards, and my personal favorite the Swimp3 Player. I really enjoyed testing all the different equipment. It was interesting to see what worked for me and what didn't. My favorites were the Z2 Gold Zoomer, the Foil Monofin, the Tempo Trainer, and the Swimp3 Player. After the testing was over, we had the choice of buying any of the equipment for half price. I went home with my shiny Swimp3 Player for half price!! I've already gotten a lot of use out of it. I was also THRILLED, when I realized that we had a set of Forearm Fulcrums and a Tempo Trainer to take home in goodie bags! I'm planning on ordering the Zoomers soon too!
After the testing session, we broke for lunch. They had lunch catered in and it was yummy! The planners had kept us well plied with snacks and drinks all day long. There was even a session on Open Water and Distance Swimming, while we ate. I'm not into open water, but it was interesting to hear all the tips and tricks.
The afternoon session, we were back in the pool. It was the time for all swimmers and coaches for all strokes and drills. The coaches led us in each stroke and had drills for each part of the stroke. It was really interesting with that many swimmers in the water, but we got it done!
It was a great weekend, and I sure hope that I'm able to go next year! Here a some shots of the day!
Me during the drill portion of the day.
Coach katie (She's on the right with the auburn hair and glasses)and the rest of the coaches helping during the drill portion.
A side view of a portion of the coaches and swimmers. Me, Katie, and Erica were the last ones on the left.

Monday, May 02, 2011

Casey and I did it!! We celebrated our 20th year together with a Vow Renewal Ceremony. When we got married, we just went to the courthouse. We never got to share with family and friends. So, we decided to celebrate our 20th year with an occassion to share with everyone! It was this past Saturday at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. It was a wonderful day, spent with our closest family, friends, and church family. I can't thank everyone enough who made our day so special! We love you all!

Friday, April 29, 2011

I had my DVR set and ready to go, but I still got up at 3:00 a.m. this morning! Being a history major, I just couldn't miss the history, while it was happening! I had to watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton! I just went gaga over the wedding dress and ceremony! Even Casey got up to watch!! That really shocked me! We did enjoy watching together. I managed to get to see the whole ceremony, up until they got in the carriage procession. I made it to work just in time to see them come out onto the balcony and kiss!
I had read their wedding program yesterday and was very curious about the ceremony. See, Casey and I are renewing our wedding vows tomorrow (Saturday, April 30th) to celebrate our 20th year together. There were several of the same songs and scriptures we had picked for our ceremony, that were in the Royal Wedding today. So, you can imagine that I am REALLY pumped about our ceremony tomorrow!
The puppies, bless their hearts, tried to stay up as long as they could, but by the end, this is what Indy ended up looking like!

I found this really cool web site about the Royal Dogs through the years. I've posted it in honor of the happy couple:
Royal Wedding Pets

Monday, April 18, 2011

Last week was SUPER busy! My Godmother, Marie, visited from Oklahoma. It's the first time I've gotten to visit with her in 13 years! We had a great time visiting and catching up. Hopefully, we won't have to wait that long to visit again. Here's a couple of shots from the visit.
Marie and My Mom.

Marie and Me

It was a very busy weekend also. I got a couple of good swim workouts in this past weekend. I had been slacking, since we had visitors. Also, yesterday started Holy Week at church. We had Palm Sunday services yesterday morning. Last night, we had the Seder Passover Meal. I've done this dinner for the past 2 years, and I really enjoy it. It really helps me to connect to the history of the Christian faith. After we ate the traditional Seder foods, we just had an old fashioned potluck dinner. It was SOOOO good. I ate way too much! I'll have to swim and run extra this week to make up for it!
Here are some shots from last night's dinner.

This week will be exciting too! I'll attend all of the Holy Week services including, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Saturday. I really enjoy all of these services. This is really one of my favorite times of the church year!